Question about learning diagnostic work vs just turning wrenches

I was talking to an older mechanic named Jim at the shop down the street last Friday. He said most guys our age are good at swapping parts but can't read a wiring diagram to save their lives. He told me I should spend less time on engine teardowns and more time learning how injector pulse width works. It hit different because I've been doing this 6 years and I still guess half the time when a truck has a no-start condition. Is it better to focus on being a parts changer who can hustle jobs fast or really learn the electronics side even if it slows you down? Has anyone else had a senior guy tell them something that made them rethink their whole approach?

3 comments

3 Comments

jana11921d ago

Funny you mention Jim, my old neighbor Bob used to say the same thing while he was rebuilding a carburetor from the 70s with his bare hands. He never did touch a multimeter, but his cars always ran like tops.

alicecooper21d ago

That neighbor Bob sounds like he was from the old school for sure. I was reading this article the other day about how those guys could tune a carb by ear and feel alone, no multimeter ever touched it. It's a lost art if you ask me (and I know nobody did). Those 70s engines were simpler, more mechanical, so you could get away with it. Modern cars with all their sensors and computers would just laugh at a carburetor and a pair of bare hands. But man, there's something romantic about that era of wrenching.

henderson.wesley21d agoOG Member

Started doing the same thing back when I had my old 68 Mustang. Those Holley carbs were a pain sometimes but once you figured out the air/fuel mix by ear it was like magic. Never owned a multimeter back then, just used a screwdriver, a feeler gauge, and maybe a timing light if I was feeling fancy. Bob knew what he was doing, those old school mechanics had a sixth sense for how an engine should sound and feel. Makes me miss the days when I could fix pretty much anything with a set of wrenches and some patience.